


sleeping  ...beauty?

by JamesAeza



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chains, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Imprisonment, Kissing, M/M, Platonic Kissing, Rescue, Self-Esteem Issues, Sleep, Sleeping Beauty Elements, tower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25123879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamesAeza/pseuds/JamesAeza
Summary: Remus needs to know. Does anyone care for him, even a little?That's why he puts himself to sleep in a tower. He won't wake up unless it's what the others truly want.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Everyone
Comments: 46
Kudos: 163





	1. Remus

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all! This was a concept that wouldn't leave me alone, so I started it, even though I'll probably get distracted and not bother to finish. Well, whatever happens with this, I hope you enjoy.

Remus couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of this before. With all the wonderful ideas swimming through his head a mile a minute, and with his burning need to know if anyone cared about him at all, it was shocking that he hadn’t done this yet. 

It could have been argued that he’d done dumber things before. Drinking superglue, throwing himself off a cliff to see what would happen, insulting Virgil in front of Patton. But then again, those were all things he knew he could come back from. With this, odds were, he’d never be back. Not like it mattered. He was apathetic towards whether he lived or died now, and he was fairly sure that if they didn’t care about him at all, he was fine with sleeping forever. 

Oh, of course they didn’t. That meant that this was practically suicide, not that the word meant anything important to him anymore.

He had creativity-proofed the entire dream-space, meaning they would have to go through each obstacle the hard way if they wanted to reach him. The boiling lake, the trees that could shoot arrows, the tower they’d have to climb. The one he’d be at the top of. 

He glanced around the top of the tower, satisfied with his work. It had been a very ambitious project. As he laid down in the bed, securing his arms with chains to complete the effect, he thought of each of them.

Patton, who would be upset that he had felt the need to take these kinds of measures to feel validated, but who wouldn’t understand. Patton would be happy to spew fake, sickly sweet affirmation, but would he be willing to run the whole course just for a second, less necessary creativity? Not likely. 

Logan would probably be cross that he had done something so ‘reckless’ and ‘unnecessary’. What he wouldn’t get was that this was the most necessary thing that Remus had ever done. He had to know who would do this, if anyone. Logan would probably reason that it was better to let Remus fester than to risk the other, useful sides, and he would be right. 

Roman would be happy to make his way through the challenging obstacles, taking it as just another adventure where he could play the hero. But when he learned what was at the end, he’d turn back. The hero would never save the villain, not in his brother’s silly fantasies. 

Virgil hated him, there was never any doubt of that. He wouldn’t entertain the charade even for a second. He’d just lock himself in his room with those big headphones on, and Remus would rot up here because he needed all of them for this to work. That was what he deserved anyway.

Janus was… unpredictable. They’d been friends, once. He had no idea if they still were. No idea if Janus still cared. If he ever had. He supposed he’d find out soon enough. 

He was certain that once they learned of the final task, not one of them would see it through. 

He laid back in the bed, trying to relax. He glanced out the window at the depressing and perilous landscape, wondering if someone would be foraging through it soon. If he’d ever look at it, or anything for that matter, again. 

He took a deep breath, securing the spell in place. There was a soft smile on his face as he drifted off. He knew he’d never wake up. How did he know that? This kind of setup was usually reserved for Roman, but...

To wake him up, the other sides would have to kiss him. Every one of them. And  _ any  _ one of them would rather do just about anything than do that. 


	2. Patton

Patton would not have noticed were it not for his empathetic nature. He could sense a heavy feeling of… despair. Heart-wrenching despair, as if someone knew that things could never be the same again. As if there was something important dying and it would never come back.

It was almost strong enough to throw him off his feet. He caught himself against the wall, breathing heavily. This wasn’t normal. Regaining his balance, he set off to find who might have been causing it. 

Remus had been the last person he wanted to try to talk to. But after checking in on all his kiddos, he’d realized that this must have been the problem. 

That didn’t make him happy about it. Remus unnerved him, even after all of Logan’s explaining as to why he shouldn’t. He wasn’t as horrified as he’d been before, but that didn’t mean he had to like him. 

He knocked on the peeling green-painted door for the third time, with still no answer. Even if Remus wasn’t his favorite person, that was still concerning. 

“Remus?” He called, unnerved by the slight echo that didn’t elicit a response. “I’m coming in, okay?”

Still no answer. He slowly pushed open the door which was, surprisingly, unlocked. 

What he was not expecting to see was a vast landscape that looked to be straight out of one of Roman’s Disney movies, just a little… off. Eerier. More Remus’s style. 

He turned back towards the door only to find that it was gone. He covered his mouth to muffle the frightened yelp before he used common sense and stuck out his hand. Sure enough, the door was still there, it simply looked as if he was standing in the middle of a dreary countryside. 

After marking an X in the dirt with his toe, he hesitantly stepped forward. “Remus?” He called again, wondering what the worst of creativity was doing now. 

Yet there was something that told him this wasn’t just Remus being Remus. There was something sinister, and he had to find what was happening. 

Moving forward slowly, he kept an eye out for anything… odd. Remus-like. But he didn’t see anything yet. Maybe this was just some elaborate prank, and Remus would jump out any second and scare the living daylights out of him. Patton knew he was easy, and thus fun, to tease. 

Every time he took a step, he looked around nervously, but still he saw nothing, even after almost an hour of cautious walking. 

That was, until he almost stepped right into a lake. 

It was odd, really. A lake with small black stepping stones was a little tame for Remus’s usual tastes. Maybe it was full of sharks or something like that. 

He carefully, slowly dipped a finger into the water, and immediately yanked it back out. The water was hot enough to cook rice. At a second glance, he noted that it was bubbling.  _ Boiling.  _ Now, a boiling lake, that was Remus’s style. 

He glanced at the black stones, which suddenly looked an awful lot less inviting. 

He screwed his eyes shut. For Thomas. Sure, maybe Remus seemed unnecessary, but without him, something would be fundamentally thrown off. After all, Virgil had seemed rather unnecessary at first too. That had been proven wrong quickly. 

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out onto the first rock. He inhaled sharply at the heat, the steam all around him. He would start burning very soon. All the more reason to hurry up and cross.

It only took two minutes to cross the stones, but by the end of it Patton was red and burnt. He would have to remember to put aloe on that once he got back. 

He was in such a hurry to get away from the heat that he hardly noticed as, when he stepped into a dense forest, an arrow came whizzing past his head. He jumped back just in time.

Attempting to summon a shield, he noted that he couldn’t. Remus had rigged this area, he couldn’t do anything a human wouldn’t be able to do. He looked back, thinking about turning away now. 

But… this might be important. What if Remus was in trouble? What if he’d never come back, and no one would ever hear another dirty joke or stupid crack? What if his trash man was gone forever? 

He slowly took another pace forward, barely dodging the next arrow. Where were these coming from? When one more barely missed his stomach, he broke into a sprint until he was sure that he was out of the woods. 

Once back to safety, he took a moment to register his body. His left arm had been grazed, but that was easily ignored and treated later. He was lucky enough for that to be seemingly the only hit. 

Then, he looked up, taking stock of his surroundings. It took him a moment to notice the small stream by his feet. Careful not to touch it for fear of what might be underneath, he followed it for a ways until he reached a large cave. For a moment, it looked like the other side of the cavern was overgrown, before he noticed that all the vines were hanging in a perfect replica of the entrance to the area where the tower was in  _ Tangled.  _ He smiled a little. Maybe the twins weren’t as drastically different as Roman wanted to believe. 

When he pushed his way through the vines, he saw more or less what he was now expecting to see. A tall tower, similar to Disney’s version but just a bit darker, shrouded in gloom. 

He slowly made his way to the base of it, half-expecting to be attacked by some rabid creature, but all was silent. Almost eerily silent. 

After giving the building a once-over, he was sure that the only way up was to climb the outside. 

He looked at it, slowly placing his foot into a small dent and lifting himself off the solid ground. He sighed. For Remus. He was almost there. At least he assumed that he’d find the other in the building. 

Patton almost surprised himself with the ease with which he climbed the tower. Maybe, despite all the difficulties in getting here, Remus subconsciously wanted him there and his world was bending to let him up without too much trouble. 

As he hoisted himself through the window and cast his eyes around the small room, he froze. What had happened here? Remus was shackled to a small bed, and he was deeply, almost peacefully asleep. 

As he stepped closer, he noticed a black rose on Remus’s chest, and two things became apparent.

First, black roses meant death. Remus wanted, or thought he was going to die up here. Maybe he was already half-dead. 

Second. He had already taken inspiration from the animated kids movie Tangled, he’d seen that in the hanging vines and tower he’d needed to climb. The rose was a signal that Tangled wasn’t the only Disney movie in this scenario. It was in the same position as that of Sleeping Beauty, and how did the sleeping princess wake? She needed a kiss. 

Patton slowly dropped to his knees beside the bed. He looked at the other’s face, so uncharacteristically calm. A few hours ago, Patton wouldn’t have dreamed of doing this, but now, he knew he had to. They needed their rat man back. 

Running his hand through Remus’s hair, he planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. As he did so, the room started spinning, and Patton fell.

When he gained his senses back, he was in his own room. 

What had just happened? Was Remus okay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you stuck with me this far, thank you! I know this story is a bit different but I'm enjoying writing it. 
> 
> In case anyone is wondering who's coming next, I tagged the characters in order of appearance.


	3. Logan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to swap up the style a little to mimic Logan's thought process, let me know how I did! I hope you enjoy :)

“Remus?”

Logan knocked three times on the door. Why wasn’t he answering? They’d had a system in place for years. If he needed materials for an experiment, Remus got them to him. He  _ could  _ have gone to Roman, but then he would have to deal with stupid questions like “Why do you need sodium cyanide?” and “What do you do with all this blood?”

He knocked sharply three more times, science materials forgotten. What was he doing in there? Logan knew that he sometimes created simulations where he could act on his thoughts without harming anyone, but he would have usually at least come to the door to say it wouldn’t work right then by now. 

Placing his hand on the doorknob, he was surprised when the door swung open and he stumbled into what should have been Remus’s room.

But it wasn’t. It was instead a large and dreary picture-book-esque outdoor scene, complete with a large lake nearly a mile away and a forest off in the distance. 

“Remus?” He called loudly, scanning for the black-and-green clad figure.

After a quick once-over of the area, he began moving in an easterly direction towards the lake, which seemed to be the most noticeable landmark. 

He continued to call out as he walked, keeping an eye out for any of Remus’s signature monsters or traps. He wondered why this was what the space looked like presently, it didn’t seem like Remus’s usual scenarios that helped him ‘let off steam’. It was almost as if it was engineered for someone other than him, which made Logan wonder if he was intruding.

He quickly shook the thought off. He would just take a quick look around to make sure he was all right, after all, he was an integral part of Thomas. 

As he approached the water, Logan found himself suspicious of what might lurk inside. Stepping to the left, he started to make his way around the body of water before being cut off by a wall he couldn’t seem to see. 

He retreated back to the front of the lake, mentally mapping out a path on the black stones that should get him safely across. 

When he stepped out onto the first rock, he understood what Remus had done to the lake. The steam was burning him from where he was. He quickly but still cautiously finished making his way across, rubbing his burnt skin. 

He looked both ways for another obstacle. He couldn’t see one directly, but proceeded with caution. 

When the first arrow whizzed by right in front of his face, he jumped backwards, eyes flicking back and forth in an attempt to find the source.

He didn’t see any people, or bows. Keeping his eyes fixed on the spot where the arrow had come from, he was narrowly missed by another one as he realized that the trees themselves were shooting at him. 

They seemed to be going for his head and chest area, so he did the reasonable thing and dropped to all fours, crawling through the thick woods.

He would not have done this under normal circumstances, his pride was just a little too important to him for that, but he still hadn’t found Remus. It was possible, however unlikely, that he had been attacked by one of his own creations or had done something unwise ‘to see what would happen’, like the time he had thrown himself into an active volcano. Or injected himself with a deadly disease. 

Well, that was in the past and did not bear thinking about. He and Janus had already done enough shouting and lecturing over those incidents, followed by just a little too much wine to be quite healthy. 

As he finally moved out of shooting range of the trees, he got to his feet, dusting off his pants and glancing around for either another obstacle or the man he was here for.

What he found was a large cavern, the far end nearly overrun with vines. His gaze took in his surroundings as he carefully moved forward. As he gently touched the bright green flora, he found that they were hanging from the roof of the cave and very easily moved. 

Pushing his way through those, he found himself in a clearing. The scenario resembled a movie he’d been forced to watch with Roman not too long ago, about a princess trapped in a tower and denied her birthright.

Which did make sense, seeing as in the middle of the area lay a tall, thin tower. He assumed his next task was to climb to the top of it. 

He would prefer not to have to climb the outside, so he gently ran his hand over the bricks as he moved around the base in a circle. To his pleased surprise, the bricks bent to accommodate an opening just large enough for him to enter. He softly placed his foot on the first step of the spiral staircase, which, astonishingly, began to spin, moving Logan towards the top. 

When he stepped off into a large room, the first thing he did was analyze his surroundings. There was a large window, showing off the depressing landscape of Remus’s design. 

Most disturbingly, there was a small cot, where he saw the side he’d been looking for. He looked thinner than Logan remembered, and Logan never forgot. He was chained to the bed, which was odd seeing as this was a dream-space of his own creation. 

Additionally, he noted a large black rose resting on Remus’s chest. As always, he was quickly able to call upon reserves of information to inform him what this might mean.

Black roses - death. Perhaps Remus thought he would die, wanted to die, or was already dead. He pushed the last one out of his mind quickly, assuring himself that if Remus was dead, his room would die with him. 

Rose placed on the chest of a person in an enchanted sleep - this resembled a fairy tale that he remembered well from childhood. Of the sleeping princess Aurora/Briar Rose.

She had needed a kiss to wake her, and he assumed that this insinuated the same thing. Why Remus wanted a kiss he couldn’t imagine, nor was he sure from whom, but he hadn’t come all the way up here for nothing.

He went over to the bed, taking Remus’s hand in his, which caused the chain to rattle a little. He slowly lifted the hand to his lips, planting a firm kiss on the inside of his wrist before he was back in his own room in a flash of white light.

That was… odd. He should ask Janus what was going on, he was likely to know. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this instead of sleeping so it might not be the best. I think the next two will make up for it though, I'm excited to write those boys.


	4. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, finally some dialogue, right guys? I hope you like this one, and thank you for all the nice comments. They really help me stay motivated.

Roman really did not want to answer the door right about now, but when he heard Patton’s voice calling for him, sounding scared, he forced himself to his feet and stumbled over. 

This was strange. The last time he had felt like this was the time that his idiot brother had given himself a deadly virus of his own design. Logan and Janus had taken care of it, but Roman had been out of commission for a few days. He wasn’t sure why he shared some sort of connection with Remus, nor was he happy about it, he just knew that he did. And he also knew that Remus was probably doing something pretty stupid right about now, though he didn’t have the energy to get up and check, or even to warn someone else. 

“Roman, kiddo, can I come in?” He shoved the door open, trying and failing to look like his normal self. 

“Whoa, what happened to you?” Roman sighed.

“I believe you’d have better luck asking what happened to Remus. This is how I get when he does something particularly dumb.”

“Oh… well, I can’t say that doesn’t make sense. He set up this whole world in his room, and he’s sleeping in a tower in the middle of it.”

Roman hastily threw the door open the rest of the way. “What? Do I need to come?”

Patton shrugged. “You probably should. I think he wanted us to kiss him, so I did and then I turned up back in my room.”

Roman looked horrified. “ _ You  _ kissed Remus?”

Patton giggled at his expression. “Just on the forehead. You’re his brother, you know him best. You should go see what’s going on.”

Roman shrugged. He still felt awful, but he should probably go check on that idiot. He wasn’t trying to lose the other half of himself. 

“Alright, let’s go,” he groaned, forcing himself to follow Patton down the hallway. 

When they reached his door, Patton tried to open it, but frowned upon finding it locked. “That’s weird,” he informed Roman. “It was open before. You try.”

Roman stepped forward, and as he placed his hand on the doorknob, it swung open. He stepped in, losing sight of Patton. He could still hear him, though.

“Huh, I guess I’m not supposed to go back in since I already did the whole thing. Well, okay, so there’s this big lake and it’s really hot, but if you just go fast across the rocks it shouldn’t be too bad. Then there’s this forest where the trees shoot at you, I just ran really fast and didn’t get hit. Then you have to climb the tower, which isn’t too hard. Oh, and you can’t use your creative abilities.”

Roman had been listening calmly, taking in Patton’s notes, but he turned sharply upon hearing the last sentence. “I can’t  _ what? _ ” 

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo. If your old dad can do it, so can you.”

Roman doubted that, but he didn’t see a way out. 

This was fine. He was a prince. He’d done hard and daring things before. 

Not usually while incapacitated through his brother’s choices. But that was beside the point. 

The lake wasn’t too far, though he still found himself a little wiped by the end of it. He glared unhappily at the clear water, Patton had said that it was ‘hot’. Roman was not one for heat, but he supposed he needed to check in on his dim-witted twin. 

The stepping stones proved to be harder than Patton had made them out to be, and he found himself stumbling and almost falling more than once. That could have been disastrous. 

He was grateful when he came out alive and largely unharmed on the other side. After he’d saved Remus, he was going to kill him himself. 

He carefully took note of where the forest began, preparing to bolt. He wasn’t sure if his running was currently up to the task, but he felt this was necessary. After all, it wasn’t like he could die. He’d had worse than an arrow to the side. 

Taking a deep breath, he began the sprint. He didn’t slow, even as his breathing became labored. Even when he felt a sharp pain stab into his side, and felt sticky, warm liquid trickling down his leg. 

It wasn’t easy or a good idea, but he kept his run even until he was sure that he was safe. Then he looked down at the arrow sticking out of him and blood dripping from the wound. He was so close now, he decided to continue on. He knew better than to try to pull the arrow out by himself, he’d get Logan to remove it later. 

As he stumbled along, trying to ignore the pain and fatigue, he noticed a large cave. 

Wait. He knew this place. Why had Remus stolen scenery from a Disney movie? Wasn’t that supposed to be more his thing? Shouldn’t Remus like less pleasant things? The two of them were polar opposites, or at least they were supposed to be. 

He felt uneasy as he pushed past the vines into the clearing he knew by heart. Sure enough, there was the familiar tower. 

He knew this bit of the story. Besides, Patton had already told him. The tower didn’t look too difficult to climb, though he wondered if it might be a different story with an arrow protruding from his side. 

Steeling himself, he began the tall and treacherous climb, side already beginning to protest. As he continued, he felt as if he was going to split in half, but he forced himself to press on.

This was the worst day he’d had in a long time. 

As he tumbled through the window, he screwed his eyes shut, taking deep shaky breaths. When he’d calmed down and he no longer felt ready to burst, he slowly opened his eyes. 

The first thing he noticed were the shiny silver chains, digging into his brother’s wrists. Making his was over, he tried to loosen them, then to snap them away, but there was no hope. 

That was odd. Why would Remus chain himself inside his own creation? Maybe it was just there for the aesthetic, after all, he wouldn’t put something like that past himself-

Wait. stop that train of thought. He and Remus weren’t similar, not even close. And it did not bear thinking about any more. 

What had Patton said Remus wanted? A kiss? 

He did not especially want to kiss his twin. But… he’d come all the way up here. What if this was the only way to wake him? Maybe he didn’t particularly like him, but he didn’t want him gone for good…

He shook his head. Why he cared was beyond him. 

As he looked up, he noticed why Patton had guessed that. There was a big rose on his chest, rising and falling with the rhythm of Remus’s breath. He recognized this from another Disney princess story.

Stealing his thing, no big deal.

He looked at him a little closer. It was odd to see him looking so… peaceful. Calm. As if he didn’t have a care in the world. 

He took Remus’s hand in his own, the way he might if this was a fair maiden, and lifted it to his lips. As he pressed a kiss to the back of his brother’s hand, he felt the world spin, and he was back in his room for only an instant before the pain and blood loss caught up with him and he collapsed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is pretty common knowledge but just in case any of you kiddos didn't already know, if there is ever something stuck in you, like an arrow or a knife, DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE IT. Wait until a professional can get it out, doing it improperly can cause more damage and bleeding which can be deadly.


	5. Virgil

“Princey? Just say something so I know you’re not dying in there. You haven’t annoyed anyone in almost two hours and I’m getting worried.”

“Roman?”

“Roman, I’m coming in.”

When there was still no response, he pushed open the big red and gold door, mind jumping to any worst-case scenario. What if he was dying? What if he was already dead? What if he was in a magical sleep and he’d never wake up?

Well, that last one was a little far-fetched, even for him. It was probably nothing anyway, but being anxiety, of course he had to check. 

He was not really expecting Roman to  _ actually  _ be dying, but that was what he found when he walked in. Roman was passed out on the floor with an arrow in his side, blood leaking from the wound.

Dumbass.

Virgil quickly made his way over to Roman, trying to recall  _ anything  _ about properly removing a sharp object, but he was blanking. He felt himself slipping into panic. That was bad.

He stood up, rushing out the door to find someone who was actually  _ useful  _ in a crisis. 

“Logan!”

Logan looked annoyed as he opened his door. “How many times must I tell you? Loud noises are-” he stopped, though, when he noticed Virgil’s terrified expression. “What’s wrong?”

“I think Princey’s dying.”

Logan looked surprisingly unsurprised. “How so?”

“Arrow.” 

“Ah. I assume he’s seen Remus then.” Seeing Virgil’s befuddled expression, he added, “And I suppose you haven’t. I’ll explain in a moment. First we had better go patch up Roman.”

With the arrow successfully removed and Roman, delirious from pain pills, asleep in his bed, Virgil turned to Logan. 

“So what did Remus have to do with this? I take it this was his fault.”

“Well… yes and no. I was going to go find Janus to help him, but you came to find me first. Seeing as Patton, Roman, and I have all gone and he’s still not back, he wants all of us to come. I believe you should go.”

“Sorry, but go where?”

Logan sighed before beginning to recount the steps Virgil would need to make to find Remus. Virgil’s eyes widened as he spoke.

“No. Definitely not. Do you even know who I am?”

Logan frowned. “All three of us have done it. I’m sure you could as well.”

“No! I have aquaphobia, and thermophobia, and dendrophobia, and acrophobia and-”

“Virgil, it is not possible for you to suffer from every one of those afflictions. After all, I have seen you look at trees and water without panicking.”

“Well, I can’t do this!”

“Please, Virgil. Do it for me. And for Remus. Or if nothing else, for Thomas.”

That made him take pause. He took a deep breath in. “Fine. For Thomas, I will go. But you better feed me cake when I get back.”

“...why?”

“Because I deserve it if I do this whole damn thing. Alright, where is it?”

Logan walked Virgil to Remus’s door before bidding him goodbye and asking what type of cake he liked. Then he left, leaving Virgil fully vulnerable to Remus’s whims. 

Virgil slowly shut the door behind him. He knew what to expect, what to do. Logan didn’t tell him what he had to do at the end to get back, but he seemed fairly confident that Virgil would figure it out. 

Turning to where Logan had directed him, he could already see the lake. 

The one that was hot enough to cook him, but that didn’t bear thinking about. 

It didn’t take long traversing over the gloomy scene to reach it. He could see it bubbling. 

He tried to pretend it was just a normal lake as he stepped out onto the stones. 

Yes, a normal lake. That was what it was. With algae and water bugs and fish-

No wait, back up, cancel this. This wasn’t working. Fish were terrifying.  _ Alright, fine. _ He told himself.  _ No fish. It’s a fishless lake.  _

Upon thinking about fish, though, he noted that he was already halfway across and he hadn’t thought once about how the water could turn him into tea. 

Well now he was thinking about it, but he kept pressing forward, telling himself that there was no heat and there were no fish. 

Thankfully, he did not see any fish, and with a little pushing he managed to make it to the other side, with nothing but a few very minor burns to show for it. 

After just a few paces, he knew he’d be entering the woods Logan had warned him about. He’d told him that if he just got low he’d be fine, the trees only shot high. 

Several feet before he’d be in dangerous territory, he dropped down and moved staying low. He kept his eyes shut tight and he hummed quietly to himself to ignore the hissing of the shots until he was certain that he was well out of dangerous territory. 

He cast his eyes around for the cave that Logan had promised was straight out of Tangled. There were lots of things that could live in caves. Like poisonous spiders. Or snakes-

_ But he didn’t need to think about that.  _ He forced the thoughts out as he almost ran through the cavern, coming out in the familiar but oddly depressing clearing. 

Logan had said that the tower opened up to admit a person, but after several laps, it still hadn’t opened for him. He took a big breath of the chilly air.

He was going to have to climb it. 

Virgil slowly, carefully placed his foot on the brick, trying to keep his mind anywhere but there. He tried to remember to breathe slowly. 

_ Breathe in. _

_ Step with left foot. _

_ Breathe out.  _

_ Move right hand.  _

_ Breathe in- _

_ Right foot slips- _

_ Remember to breathe out while you fix it.  _

He could not believe he was doing all this for Remus.

_ Breathe in. _

Actually, he could.

_ Breathe out. _

He liked to pretend he didn’t care. About anything.

_ Breathe in.  _

But he related to Remus more than he’d like to admit. 

_ Breathe out. _

As he climbed into the room at the top, the rest of the thoughts made themselves known. 

He related to Remus because neither of them could control what they were. Remus didn’t like his thoughts any more than Virgil liked his anxiety.

But they were both stuck the way they were. 

As he took in the room, he promptly almost threw himself back out the window. He knew what the rose meant, and he was  _ not  _ going to do that. 

Except… he had to. If he ever wanted this idiotic duke back, he had to. Virgil slowly made his way over to the unconscious body, noting that he was chained to the bed. He looked down at Remus, peacefully asleep, and said, mostly to himself, “For the record, this didn’t happen,” before leaning in and dropping a kiss on his cheek, the least-gross place he could think to. 

Before he knew anything else, he was back in his own purple, full-of-spiderwebs room, and he could not believe what he’d just done. 


	6. Janus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! The end is in sight, and I was not expecting this much awesome attention! I read and fully appreciate all of your comments, replying to comments for some reason makes me super anxious but rest assured you have no idea how happy it makes me to receive.   
> This chapter's a little shorter but I hope it does not disappoint, and thank you all for reading.  
> It's now past one AM as I finish and post this. Enjoy.

After Logan had fulfilled Virgil’s request for cake, leaving it in his room, he knew he had to find the only one who likely hadn’t gone yet. Janus didn’t interact with the others often. 

When he’d reached the small yellow-and-black door, he hesitated. He didn’t especially like this man, but he figured everyone had to go. 

He sighed, looking down at the door and knocking sharply three times. Janus, being the shortest, kept his door at no higher than five feet two inches, so he could easily step through, but anyone else had to bend over. At almost six feet, this was something Logan did not appreciate. But it wasn’t worth fighting over. 

As the door swung open, Janus looked as put-together as usual, if a bit annoyed. When he looked up, though, he did seem surprised to see Logan of all people. He quickly wiped his face of all emotion, though, and sighed. 

“Ah. Logan. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Logan was not one to begin with small talk or drag a conversation out longer than it needed to go. “Remus has locked himself in a tower and wants all of us to find and kiss him. As of right now, everyone has gone but you and I am not sure if Virgil has finished yet.”

When he looked back down at Janus, he was surprised to see that Janus looked shocked. “Oh god, I should have known,” he muttered before pushing past Logan and hurrying down the hallway without any sort of comment. 

Logan just shrugged it off, assuming he knew something the others didn’t. 

No, no, no. This was very, very bad. Janus should have listened more, done something,  _ stopped him _ . He’d  _ known _ Remus was borderline suicidal, and had he done anything about it? No. He had not. And now Remus (and everyone else) was paying. 

He was prepared to knock down Remus’s big green door, but it was open. He burst in, finding himself in… a big, dreary countryside? Logan had said he’d locked himself in a tower. He assumed he’d have to find it. 

Standing still in the middle of the big landscape, he took a deep breath, shutting his eyes and entering his mind. He tried to think only of Remus, of where he must be.

He’d found several years ago that he could track the others if he concentrated hard enough. He wasn’t sure why and he hadn’t told anyone, but he’d found it useful once or twice. 

As he got a vague direction, he concentrated a little harder, and found an image of a cavern, opening into the clearing that housed a tower. 

The image seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. It didn’t matter. After receiving one final image or Remus, asleep, in chains, he took off in the direction of his self-inflicted prison at a sprint. 

When he reached the lake, he vaguely noted that it was boiling, but being half-snake and cold blooded, that wasn’t too much of a problem for him. Not that he wouldn’t swim across a boiling lake, fully human, to rescue this man. 

He didn’t even notice the trees shooting arrows until he had passed them. He’d sprinted through at record pace, then quickly located the cavern and found his way to the base of the tower. 

It was tall, and had no entrance at the bottom. The only opening was a large window at the top, and he’d have to climb the exterior. 

That was fine. It wasn’t like he was afraid of heights or anything. 

Fears could be repressed, though, when there were lives on the line. He knew what Remus would say. ‘Repression can be very bad indeed.’ But he didn’t really have another option. 

He shut his eyes as he began the steep climb. It was easier than expected, lots of dents and bricks that jutted out, but it was still rough. As he climbed, he kept forcing the fear out of his mind, trying to stay calm. 

Once he’d safely crawled through the window, he let all the fear catch up with him, but not stop him as he rushed to the bed, caressing the duke’s oddly warm cheek. 

The rose. Like in the fairy-tale. That must be how Logan knew what he wanted. 

Then, very suddenly, he leaned down and kissed Remus the way he’d wanted to for far too long. Deep. Passionate. 

He felt tears leak out of his eyes at the other man’s unresponsiveness. He only wished the kiss he’d daydreamed of could have been two-sided. But maybe there would still be time for that. 

He didn’t have time to stay lip locked long enough to satisfy the craving before he was thrown back in his room, praying to any gods out there that it had worked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additionally, I finally did the thing I've known I should do for awhile and I joined Tumblr. I also have no clue how to use it, but if you wanna be friends, and I would totally love talk to any of you, I can be found at thewriterisalwayswrite.


	7. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here it is guys. The end. I wanted to finish with some of that good fluff and comfort, so I hope you like this.

It was a peculiar feeling. Floating in darkness, neither here nor there, now nor then. Dreamless. When he felt himself pulled back into reality, he resisted, but it eventually stole him back. He was disoriented for a moment, before shooting into a sitting position and glancing around the room as the memories came rushing back. 

So… why was he in his own room, the way it always was? There was no way that the others had actually come through for him. Not even Roman was  _ that  _ stupid. He should still be  _ asleep _ . 

He jumped to his feet, a little unsteady, and stumbled out the door. The hall was empty, as usual, but it wasn’t quite silent. He could hear hushed voices, though he couldn’t place exactly who was speaking. 

It sounded as though it was coming from his brother’s room, which would have been a good place to go anyway in case there had been some defect with creativity that had made him wake up. He cautiously made his way over to Roman’s room, almost falling several times. When he reached the door, he heard the voices again. It sounded like… everyone but himself, Roman, and Janus. That was odd. 

He slowly pushed the door open, trying to stay silent. He could see Logan, Virgil and Patton whispering about something or other. Roman was passed out on the bed, bandaged up. That wasn’t anything new, Roman was always getting himself into dangerous situations. 

As he watched them, Logan was the first to notice him, growing quiet. The other two followed suit. They all stared for a few seconds and Remus wanted to shrivel up and hide until Patton jumped up, throwing himself into Remus and hugging him with such force that he let out a little  _ oof _ .

“Patton, perhaps you should give him a little space,” Logan suggested. Remus was enjoying the touch, but granted, he was a little crushed. Patton quickly let go. “Oops, sorry,” he giggled. “I’m just so glad to have you back, kiddo.” His demeanor was cheerful, but his eyes were sad. 

Logan coughed. “Yes, I would have to agree with Patton. Perhaps we all, well, clashed a bit at first, but we realized during this experience that you were a bit more… missed…. Than anyone expected.”

The words sent rockets shooting through his head, and he almost fell over again before Patton steadied him. Then he turned to Virgil, who was still staring. 

Virgil was not sure whether to hug him, slap him, or cry. So he did all three, which made Remus chuckle in a way he’d never heard before. 

When Roman stirred, though, they all turned their attention towards the bed. He opened one eye, looking a bit disgruntled. Upon seeing Remus, though, he snapped back into consciousness. 

“I got shot for you.”

Remus wasn’t sure how to answer that. He’d never been good with social cues. “I see that. Um… thanks?”

Roman coughed a little, body shaking. “You’re stupid.”

“I know.”

“Get over here.”

Remus awkwardly made his way over to his twin, unsure of exactly what he meant. 

“Hug me, dumbass. You’re almost as bad as Logan.”

He heard a little offended gasp from behind him, courtesy of Logan, but that wasn’t what was on his mind. He gingerly leaned in, careful of Roman’s injuries, but Roman just grabbed him and pulled him in, squeezing him tightly. “Don’t you ever do that to me again,” he whispered. Remus didn’t know what to do other than nod, savoring the contact until he was released. 

He turned back around, still in shock, but with a light smile playing at his lips. But when he saw who was waiting in the doorway, eyes wide and frightened, it left him. 

He’d liked Janus, once. However, Janus did not like him. His thoughts, or his moustache, or his singing voice or  _ anything _ . But the thought of this man kissing him, even just a meaningless kiss to the hand or cheek or something, sent shivers down his spine. 

He realized that he was staring. In fact, they were both just staring at each other, frozen. The others were just waiting, confused, before Janus ran over to him, throwing his arms around Remus.

This was not what he had expected. 

Especially not when Janus pressed their lips together, kissing him the way he’d never let himself dream of being kissed. It was rough, and needy, and an apology and a thank you. He was almost too startled to kiss back.

Almost, but not quite. He’d imagined this far too many times not to take advantage of it now that the opportunity was actually here. 

Roman, after getting over the initial shock of seeing Remus and Deceit making out, smirked, snapping his fingers, and transported them…  _ elsewhere _ .

When they finally opened their eyes, pausing for breath and to look at each other. They realized that they were not in Roman’s room anymore. 

It didn’t take them long to figure out that the prince had moved them. A candlelit bedroom was definitely his style. 

After looking around, they looked back at each other and burst into fits of giggles. At everything. The room, how long this had taken, the way they’d just gone at it in front of everyone. 

Silly or not, though, this bedroom was something they were going to take advantage of tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who's interested, I have a new project in the works. It is a superpower AU which I am going to finish before posting, (and also I finally got a beta reader for, thank you to her.) It's got angst, and good characters, and will hopefully improve my action-writing skills.   
> You can, however, expect some smaller in-between projects. There will likely be another chapter of So This Is What It's Like To Be You at some point, that one seems popular. If I get any more ideas for dumb one-shots, you'll probably see those too.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for sticking with this project, it's been awesome!

**Author's Note:**

> This is very loosely based on this art, like I saw the piece and my mind started going, but I want to give credit where credit is due, so here is this (awesome) art. https://altruistic-skittles.tumblr.com/tagged/nightmare-series
> 
> As always, drop a comment if you are so inclined, they really make my day. Criticism and positive feedback are welcome, and you can roast me if you see bad grammar. No excuses.


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